BMW export value exceeds $4.4 billion in 2010

BMW Manufacturing Co. announced Wednesday that the export value of its passenger vehicles through the Port of Charleston in 2010 totaled $4.42 billion, up from $3.7 billion the prior year.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the value of BMW exports confirms the company’s Spartanburg facility as the largest vehicle exporter from the United States to countries that are not part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 2010, more than 110,000 vehicles were exported from BMW’s S.C. plant.

The Spartanburg plant currently produces approximately 1,000 vehicles daily and is the exclusive exporter of passenger vehicles through the Port of Charleston to more than 130 global markets. In 2011, the plant is projected to increase annual capacity by 50%, to about 240,000 vehicles. This will also mark the first full year of production of the new X3 model.

“BMW vehicles manufactured in South Carolina were a major contributor to the company’s success in 2010,” said Josef Kerscher, president of BMW Manufacturing Co. “Consistently strong global demand for the X5 and X6, and now the all-new X3, to global markets has led to a net increase in our export volume through the port.”

The plant originally began vehicle production in 1994. In the past 17 years, BMW has produced more than 1.7 million vehicles. The company exports about 70% of its BMW X3 and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and the X6 Sports Activity Coupe.